Precious Moments
by laurzz
Summary: DannyLindsay. Post-ep for 9x17. 'Tomorrow would be just another day in his life with Lindsay; but it would also be another chance to embrace and cherish all the moments that came with the promise of tomorrow.'


**I'm here... finally! Had a lovely weekend with my best friend but back to reality now. I know usually I gush lots about the episode but I can't really say anything. I don't know about you guys but I am definitely struggling to accept the idea that that episode could have been the last one... I have desperately struggled with this post-ep and although I'm still not happy with it - after six start overs and five completely different stories getting deleted I have lost the will to live hahaha. I refuse to accept that was csi: ny's finale so I won't accept it yet... Now I'm going to cut the A/N shorter today because it's 12am and I am back at work tomorrow and I also have a slightly longer A/N at the bottom too... so without further adieu... I hope you guys like this one. **

* * *

"_Don't wait for the one moment in time that will change your life. Recognise that every moment counts. The quiet moments. The moments of boredom and solitude. The moments of struggle and hardship. The moments of sharing. The agonising moments when we feel sad, angry, or upset. The moments of fear. Exciting moments of discovery. The magical moments. Each moment in time is equally important; cherish every moment. Don't wait for one thing, one person, or one event, that will bring you happiness."_

–_Author unknown._

* * *

Kicking off her slippers by the bed after a trip to brush her teeth, Lindsay sighed contentedly as Danny reached for the remote and switched off the television in the corner of their room. "It was touching what she said," Lindsay said softly, referring to the local news coverage repeating the scenes from outside of the precinct earlier in the evening. "Wasn't it?"

He nodded as he rolled down the duvet to help Lindsay get into bed. "I guess."

"You guess?" she implored as she settled on the bed. "There's nothing to guess about that. I hope that if something ever happens to me, you'll be saying something along the lines of that."

"If somethin' happens to you, I ain't sayin' anythin'." Danny said as he held his arm up so that she could finally take up her position with her head resting on his chest.

"What do you mean?" she asked, laying her head on his chest; just above his heart.

"If anythin' was to happen to you, Linds, I'd be a mess. I wouldn't be makin' no television speeches… no statements… no funeral speeches… nothin'."

"I think you'd be surprised," Lindsay nodded as she traced patterns on Danny's chest with her fingertip. "You'd hold it together for the kids."

"Doubt it," he pursed his lips together and pressed a kiss to her temple. "You're the glue that holds me together, Montana. Without you, I'm just a bunch of really attractively formed cells."

"Ugh," Lindsay implored as she slapped him lightly. "You were on the verge of being so sweet and romantic… then you had to go and ruin it." She scoffed.

"Well hopefully we'll never find out about somethin' like that," he said. "Because I don't know about you but I ain't lettin' you go anywhere."

"Well that's okay because I'm not planning on going anywhere either." She said with a smile before pressing a kiss to his chest.

Silence fell over the two of them for a moment as they processed the day's events. What Tim's girlfriend had said had rung somewhat loudly in Danny's ears and had caused him to think about his life. Life wasn't about waiting for moments to happen; it was about embracing the moments that _did _happen. It had taken him a long time, but over the past few years he had began to appreciate the smaller things; the moments of laughter happiness and excitement. He appreciated the moments he shared with Lindsay where they just sat, cuddling. He appreciated little smiles from Lucy for no reason other than the fact she loved him and wanted to smile at her Daddy. He'd once thought that his life was pretty much decided for him; but with Lindsay, he'd realised that perhaps it wasn't quite that clear cut.

"What are you thinking about?" Lindsay's voice whispered in his ear.

"Life,"

"Wow," Lindsay giggled, a slight look of shock however tugged at her features. "That definitely wasn't what I was expecting; that's extremely deep and pensive for a Sunday night. What about life?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "Just about how life is what you make of it."

"How so?" she smiled, encouraging Danny to continue on.

"Well, I think you make choices; some better than others. I think there comes a time where you decide the kind of person you wanna be, and the person you were before that fades into the background. You take forward the lessons you learned when you were that douche-bag, but ultimately you become the new and improved you."

"I can agree with that," Lindsay nodded.

"I think you decide on the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. And most of the time you decide to be a better person for that person; even better than the person you had already decided to be. And you decide that despite all the shit you've put her through; she is the best that has ever happened to you and you're damn glad that she's just that little bit insane enough to actually let you call her your wife. You're glad that despite all the dick things you've done she still calls you just to tell you she loves you and sometimes…. Sometimes you catch her looking at you from across the room with this look in her eye that tells you she thinks she's lucky to have found someone that she loves as much as she does… but she has no idea that he's watching her and thinkin' that if only she knew how much he really loved her…"

Lindsay inhaled the tears that threatened to spill.

"I'd do it again you know," he said, pressing a kiss to her temple and letting his lips linger against her hair. "You, me, our kids, all of it. I'd do it again. I'd choose you, every time."

Lindsay stopped her fingertips tracing the patterns on his arm and turned to look at him. She smiled and exhaled softly. "I would too. I'd even take all the tears and heartache."

"There's bound to have been some smiles in there somewhere though, right?"

"I guess," She cocked her head from side to side playfully. He scoffed and she rolled her eyes before laying a hand on his arm. "Of course there has been; you make me happy," she said softly. "Very happy."

"Good," he nodded. "'Cause I love you with everythin' I have."

She smiled and pressed a kiss to the exact same place on his chest where she had kissed six years ago when they had woken up together on his pool table. "I have a question," she paused. "What would you say the best moment is that we've shared together?"

Danny sighed as he thought back over their history together. "I dunno Linds, that's a tough one."

"Okay, say we have a top five," she giggled. "What's one of your moments within the top five?"

"The seconds after you gave birth to Lucy." He said, not missing a beat. "I was so proud of you and so in love with you. I was pretty sure that I couldn't have loved you more in that moment if I tried."

Lindsay smiled and laid her hand against her stomach. "Well, get ready for doing it all over again in six months." She looked towards him nervously.

"What's yours?" he asked.

Lindsay closed her eyes as she tried to think. "I have two," she said. "one pre and one post marriage,"

"Okay," he nodded, "Go on."

"Okay pre-marriage is when you walked into the courtroom in Montana. You had no idea how badly I needed someone… how badly I needed you and yet somehow you were there. It's like you knew you were everything that I needed. I had been so stubborn demanding I go alone and I think right when you walked in any face probably would have done in the moment; but the only face I wanted to see was yours."

"And post-marriage?" he prompted, a smile on his face from her confession.

"Everything," she whispered. "Every second."

"That's cheatin'!" he implored.

"So?" she poked her tongue out playfully. "I'm allowed to cheat, I made up this game."

Danny rolled his eyes playfully. "Alright, I'll give you that one." He scoffed before pausing. "I have a question."

"Okay," Lindsay nodded.

"But I want you to be honest…"

"Okay," she nodded.

"Cast all the feelings of _I wouldn't change a thing_ aside for a minute," he began. "What is one thing that you would change about us or our history together?"

"Honestly?" she began, him taking notice of the fact that she didn't need much time to think about it at all. "I'd go back in time and fight for you to open up to me." She said. "When we went through our particularly rough patch, remember? I'd stop you from slipping through my fingertips; I'd hold onto you with everything that I had and try my best to be everything that you needed me to be."

"You were everything I needed you to be," he whispered softly. "I just… needed to figure that out for myself."

"Well I'd make you figure it out faster given the chance," she said, the hurt that would have been etched on her face at one point gone with time. "That and I would have probably smacked some sense into you."

He nodded in agreement.

"What would yours be?" She asked.

"I would have never done what I did." He said. "It changed a part of our relationship that we could never get back and I'll always regret that. It changed us and I hate what it did to you."

Lindsay sighed and shifted in her position. She shuffled so that she was laid half on Danny's body and cupped his face with the both of her hands. "Look at where we are now," she whispered. "Don't do that… we're just having fun."

He sighed and pressed his lips to hers.

"I have a new question. Forget that." She said.

He took a deep breath and soothingly let his past go, for now. "Okay."

"What did you think of me when you first met me, and what you think when you look at me now?"

He thought about it for a moment and then smiled; "When I first met you, there was something that unnerved me. I felt like I wasn't supposed to like you and yet, there was something about you that drew me in. I was ridiculously attracted to you - without a doubt – but the attraction went a little further than just skin deep. I remember thinkin' you were dead smart and you had this sense of humour to match. Not to mention the fact that you were a scrappy little thing that wasn't afraid of even the most intimidating of dirt bags. That was always pretty impressive."

"And what about now?" she yawned, her eyes drooping heavily as sleep threatened to take over.

"What do I think when I look at you now?" he asked, confirming the question. "That you're my everything. You're my best friend and my entire world. You're still that same girl I met on her first day; so naïve and eager-to-please… perhaps not so naïve now." He added quickly. "But all those things I saw in you on that very first day, I still see them now – despite everything you've been through. I still love you just as much as I loved you back then; even if I was scared of you and in total denial of how I felt."

Upon her lack of reaction, he turned his eyes slightly to see her and let out an unsurprised sigh as his eyes settled on her. Her chest was rising and falling softly and she had a content smile tugging at her lips. It was the third time this week she'd done it to him… fallen asleep. Their little boy growing within her was wiping out most of her energy when it came to bedtime… but it gave him moments to hold her without her wiggling and fussing like she did; just like he was now.

Tomorrow would be just another day in his life with Lindsay; but it would also be another chance to embrace and cherish all the moments that came with the promise of tomorrow. With cases like these, he found that they always got a little more protective and a little more loving. He sometimes held onto Lindsay a little tighter than he had the night before, and sometimes she kissed him for longer than what she had the week previous… things would eventually fall back into their normal routine again but in the back of their minds they would always be thinking of the precious, life building moments together that, no matter what happened in their life; nothing could take away their moments and memories.

* * *

**And so there we have it. I struggled to the high heavens with this so I apologise if it isn't my usual stuff. Hopefully I will see you all in September officially, because of course I shall be going nowhere before then. But if that isn't the case and it's down to us in the world of fanfiction to keep the love alive; I just want to say thank you. In the words of Mac Taylor now, this show has brought me together with some of the most dedicated, kind hearted people I could have hoped to meet and I think it is safe to say that we all have a love for Danny, Lindsay, Lucy and the other characters that runs deep; a love so deep that it can endure forever one even might say… these unbreakable friendships I have with people will last forever. So if this is the last post-ep I come to post, let's first of all hope it isn't… but if it is, for every kind, considerate and loving word you sent my way… thank you. For every person who never said a thing to me but checked this website after the episode each week to see if I had posted something – thank you. And to those of you who will probably never leave my life thanks for putting up with me.**

**And let's hope we're back to it in September for a season 10.**

**Thanks for reading - any thoughts or comments are as always appreciated. **


End file.
